Furnace.



. H. A. POPPENHUSBN L J. HARRINGTON.

FUBNAGE. f APPLIoATIoN FILED MAY 25, 1901.

Patented oct.'13,1908.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' H. A. POPPENHUSEN & J. HARRINGTON.

A FURNAGE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 25, 1907.

\ Patented oct. 13,1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. A. POPPENHUSEN J. HARRINGTON.

FURNAGE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1907.

Patented Oct. 13,1908.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' UNrrED; eiinrus-v HERMAN A. POPPENHU-SEN, OF EVANS'ION, AND JOSEPHHAPtRINGTON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

F'URN'ACE.-

To all iulwm itmcy concern:

` Be it kncwnthat we', HERMAN A. PorPEN- HUSEN and JOSEPH HAnmNe'roN,citizens of the United States, and residents'of Evanston and Chicago,respectively, in the county of Cook and State off Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Im a Furnaces; and we do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,reference being had to the aecompanying drawings, and to the letters ofreference marked thereon, which forma part of this specification. l I

This invention relates to improvements in furnaces of that kind providedwith automatic` stoking devices, .or means by which fuel fed tothefurnace is continuously advanced or moved in a horizontallydis osedlayer along or through the combustion c amber of the furnace during theyprogress of combustion.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described and pointedout` in the appended claims. y In the accompanying drawingsill-ustratin' our inventiom-'Fi -re 1 is a view in centra verticalsection of t e furnace embodying one formof our invention. Fig. 2 is adetail ele.

vation of theA transverse fuel supporting plates atv the forward end ofthe furnace, as seen from the front of the furnace. Fig. 3 is asectlonal view similar to Fig. '1 showing a modified form ofconstruction of the parts front of the'furnace.

view showing three of the 'inc ned fuel sup' constituting our invention.Fi 4 is a de tail elevation of a portion of the'lnclinedfuel supportlngbars shown in Fig. 3, as seen from i y: 5 is adetail ortinlgibars andthe actuating devices thereer. g. 6 is an exterior side view of theparts at the forward end ofthe device shown 1n 4Flg. 3. Fig. 7 is adetail plan section, taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 3-.-

As shown inthe accompanying drawings,

A designates the' top wall ofthe furnace, and'` B the bridge wallthereof. Y

C indicates a fuel hopper located on the front Wallof the furnace11i-,connection with the fuel inlet or feed o ening. a thereof.

D indicates an `end ess` traveling or chain grate 'of that class whichis moved or driven y suitable actuating devices in such mannenthat theupper lap ofthe rate moves inwardly or from the feed opening towards theSpecification of Letters Patent. Application mea nay 26, 1907. serialNo. 375,587.`v

ovemen-ts in Patented Oct. 13, 1908i.

bridge wall of the furnace; said upper lap being 'substantiallyhorizonta-nl E indicates a boiler, sho in said figures as a water tubeboiler, having a front header lEl and a plurality of water tubes e whichex*- tends downwardly and rearwardly from said header.

. F indicates a deflectin arch or' artitin tory material, which is builtagainst the front wall A of the furnace above the feed openin to protectsaid frontfwall, and H' is an arc which extends rearwardly from the topof the wall Gand forms a rotection for the front rangedtoaffordspace forthe assage of products of combinationl around t e forward their Way tothe stack or exilt flue cf the furarch or artition F is inclinedupwardly'and Af'orwa'r `y from its rear end at'which itis joined 'to'the bridge wall, but it need not necessarily be so inclined. At theforward end `of and above the chain grate D, in pesition toA receive thefuel dischar ed from the said inclined sup ort is formed by meansAofthree transverse y extendin inclined and overlapped metal plates I I12. Said plates arearranged with the upper edge ofthe uppermost plate Iadjacent to the lower edge which extends from 'the ridge wa l B for-"space constitutes v nace.l As shown'in Figs. 1 and 3., the said feedhopper C is an-in'clined fue support ar-v inclined fuel lsupport isprovided Awith means the top surface of the grate and joins the rear:header E f the boi er; said parts being ar- 80 edge of thesaidfdeflecting partition F 'on of the bottom wall C1 of the feedhopperC, and with the lower edges of said upper plate I and the intermediateplate I1 overlapping the adjacent plates below them. The lower marginsof said plates I I1 I2 are shown as deliected downwardlyso as to form aseries of transversely extending ledges or shoulders in the sujportinsurface formed by the said plates. aifd le es or shoulders constitutemeans to aid in preventing the layer of fuel restinglon the plate andmoving downwardly over t e same becoming caked into a solid mass by theaction of the heat to which it is subjected, as hereinafter set forth.The said plates I I1` I2 are movably supported in such manner that theirlower edges may be oscillated or vibrated for thepurpose of aiding inthe downward movement of the layer of coal and to prevent the caking ofsaid layer. As shown 1n said Figs: 1 and 2, the said plates are attachedto and supported upon horizontal rock-shafts J J1 J2 which are mountedin bearings at their ends and adordoscillatory supports for theindividual plates. Devices are provided for giving oscillatory lmovementto said rock-shafts which` as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is constructed asfollows: The intermediate rock-shaft J1 is provided with forwardlyextending horizontal arms j j the outer ends of whichy are connectedwith u right rods jl which are attached at their ower ends toeccentricstraps 7'2 engaging eccentrics 7c lc mounted on a transverselyarranged horizontal rotative shaft K. By the turning of said shaft K theeccentrics c lc act through the rods jl jl to give oscillatory movementto the arms j j which oscillatory movement is transmitted to therock-shaft I1 and the fuel supporting plate I2-attached to saidrock-shaft.

rock-shaft J2 and the lowermost supporting plate I2 by connectionsbetween t e rockshafts J1 and J2, consisting, in the instance shown, ofri id, radial arms 7'3 jf on said rockshafts, whic arms are connectedwith each other by means of connecting rods or links 7'5 i5. In theconstruction shown in the drawing7 the uppermost rock-shaft J and thesupporting p ate I are not directly moved or actuated but a certainamount of oscillatory movement is given thereto by reason of c ontact ofthe lower edge of said plate I with the upper portion of the oscillatingplate I1L on winch 1t rests.-

.From the construction described in the plates III1 I2 it will be/seenthat the lower margins of said plates are given a vibrato or shakingmovement tending to aid or facilitate the downward movement of the layerof coal resting thereon. It will also be observedthat the presence ofthe transverse ledges or shoulders formed by the lower marginal arts ofsaid plates in connection with the vi ratory movement given to saidlower- Oscillatory movement is given to the lowermost chain grate.

most margins lof the plates will have the effect of agitating thedownwardly moving layer of fuel resting on said plates, iu such manneras to break up the same or prevent it becoming solidified into acontinuous mass by the action of the coking heat to which it issubjected and that the breaking up or disintegration of the mass takesplace without disturbing the layer to such extent as to result in theturning over, mixing u or the imparting of a rolling motion to t efragments of the mass.

-In the operation of the fuel supporting means consisting of thesupporting plates I I1 I2 and the horizontal traveling grate l), fuelwill be fed from the feed ho )per C in a layer of uniform thickness andt 1c layer of fuel thus discharged u on the inclined su porting surfaceforme by said plates will rest thereon with its vsurface inclinedsubstantially at the natural angle of repose of the coal under theaction of gravity; the mass or layerron said supporting surface bei-nfysustained thereon by the contact of the ower part of said layer with thetraveling grate which, in its rearward movement carries rearwardly thecoal from the lower part of said inclined layer, thereby permitting thelatter to descend or slide downwardly along or over said inclinedsurface at a rate of speed depending upon the rate of travel of t echain grate. he gaseous products of combustion arising from the burningof the fuel u on the chain grate, rise into contact with the deflectinwall or partition F and by the latter are de ected forward toward thefront of the furnace and against the surface of the layer of coalresting upon the said supporting plates I I1 I2' and thereafterpass-upwardly around the forward edge of said arch or partition.'The'products of combustion being highly heated operate by their contactwith the layer of coal resting on said inclined supporting surface toeffect a preliminary heating or coking operation by which the volatileconstituents of coal are driven off, and .the coal is prepared forburning of its less volatile constituents as soon as it reaches thechain grate, through which air is supplied to eect combustion. The saidinclined supporting surface is substantially without airy inletopenings, so that it is in effect non-aerating; the coking of the coalthereon being effected solely by the heat transmittedto the uppersurface thereof from the heated products of combustion, and no air beingadmitted to the layer of fuel until after the latter passes from saidsupporting surface to thc The gaseous products of combustion distilledfrom the coal on said inclined surface will be mixed with and ignited bythe highly heated products'of combustion arisin' from the burning fuelon the grate, and with said hi hly heated products of combustion will bedeflected forwardly and pass upwardly around the front end'of thedeflecting arch or partition. n the case of. biturnlnous orsemi-bituminous coal theA reliminary heating or coking operationWilresult i 5. in a tendency to solidlfy thel mass, or'layerl of thecoal or the cohesion 'of its particles to form a solid mass is, however,prevented through the disturbance or agitation thereof i5 resulting fromthe'. movemcntdownwardly over the transverse shoulders 'or ledgeshereinbefore referred' to and also ,byl the shakingA or vlbratorymovement given to the lower edges of' said platesl l1 l, so that whenthe` layer of coal reaches andis deposited upon fthechain girate it isbroken into-fragments and is therefore prepared for the rapidcombus-tion thereofI4 as soon. as it reaches the chain grate; itsfragmentary condition permitting the free passage therethrough of airfor supporting combustion. j' In the mod'fied vconstructicnr of theinclined supportingsurface illustrated in Figs. '3 to 7, sar' lsurfaceis formed bya plurality of parallel., downward-ly and lnearwal-dly inedat their upper-ends upon a transverse V orizontal pivot rod L3, andhaving their lower ends terminating adj acent` to and' above-the topsurface ofthe chain grate-pl). The bars L are fixed or staticna beingsup orted in position by rigid armsrthereon, W ich bear against ahorizontal, transversegirder L4 extending across the front of thefurnace below the feed hop er. A are arrange'l in alternation with thefixed bars L, are adapted to swing or oscillate at their lower ends. Thebars L1 have movement upwardly .from the plane of the fixed bars L whilethe bars L'lz 'have movement downwardly from said plane. Provision ismade for gfving vibratory movement to the lower ends of saidl bars L1`and L2' consisting of a. horizontal rock-shaft M provided Withoppositelyr4 extending, rigid. .arms m m1 one for cach of thebars L? andL2. Each arm m isA connected with one-ofthe bars L2 by means ofaconnectingrod Mt and cacho-fthe amisml is connected With oneof the barsL?. by a connecting rod M2; with this construction when the rock-shaft Mis rocked altern'ateoscillatory movement is given to the two sets'V.ofbars LPL? in such manner that the 'bars L1.' rise above the bars v-Land the bars L.2'-dsscend' below 'said bars L, with the result ofagitatingthelayer."l offuel resting on, the inclinedsurface 'formed'bythe several.

bars and thereby preventing the caking of the. same, Without otherwisedisturbing said layer, as before described, in the case of the` wwwclinedr, narrow plates or bars L L1 Lz sup ort- The barsl..1L and L?which construction shown Figs. 1 and 2. The. I rock-shaft M may be givenoscillatory movement from a rotative shaft N bv means of an 'eccentricNlon said shaft, and an eccentric rod N2 'which' is 4ivotally .connectedWith a bloc-km, mounte ona rigid arm M3 affixed 'to one. end of therock-shaft M; said block` n" being adjustably mounted "on said'arin M3,

so as to provide for adjustment of the extent of rocking movement in therock-shaft.

lBy" the emplo ment in a furnace of the parts or features `lierein setforth, namely, an endless traveling .or chain grate. having asubstantially horizontal fuel su porting surface, an. inclined fuelsupport Ilietwcenwthe feed 'hopper and theforward end of said chaingrate provided -With means for agitatingthe layer ofv fuel restingthereon in such manner as to prevent the same becoming solidified into asolid cake or mass by the s coki'ng operation, and from the'lower end ofWhich the coal is removed and carried rearwardly by and upon thechain/grate; a substantially horizontal arch `or partition extendingfrom therear end of the chain grate forwardly over the same andterminating adjacent 4to the said inclined fuel support at the forwardend of the furnace so as to deflect substantially all of the highlyheated gaseous .products yof combustion toward or against the/incomin laer of fresh fuel resting on said inclined fuelsup ort and effect themixture of the said hig ily. heated products of combustion With thegaseous'products distilled from such fresh fuel, advantages in 100operation are obtained and improved results arise which are notsccuredin furnaces hereytofore constructed and which may be understoodfrom the following: In the operation of the furnace constructedv ashereinbefore set forth, the layer of coal resting u on the inclinedsupporting surface at the olf-- Ward end of the furnace is subjected to?a distillingior coking operation by whichl the volatile constituentsofthe coal are driveny off, and. said volatile constituents., beingimmediatelyg brought into contact or mixed with the highly heatedroducts of combustion which are deiecte( forwardly over the layer ofcoal on said inclined supporting sur- 1 15 face b the deiiecting arch orpartition, are entire y burned or consumed. The agitation to Which saidlayer of coal resting upon the said inclined su porting surface issubjected continuously )reaks up. the said layer during the process ofdistillation, so that it reaches thcfsurface of the traveling chaingrate in a fragmentary condition, thereby .permitting the free passageof the air therefthrough to effect rapid and complete com- 1.25

bustion thereof. After the lower layer of coal reaches the chain grateIit moves roar- Wardly thereon Without disturbance of agitatin untilcompletely consumed.

One important advantage arising from the 1 being brought to the top oparticular arrangement er ccinbination y`fif the parts described, isthat of the avoidance or formation of clinkers during the progress Vffr: bustien of the layer cf fusi through the This result arises from thefact t ia there no disturbance or agitation of tli., layer of fuel, whenupon the inclined supporting surface or upon the chain grate, such wouldresult in the lower art of the layer fp such layer and subjeztcd to thehigh heat within the interior of the furnace. It will be understood in sccnnecticn hat the formation of clinkers usually arises lfrom the lowerparts of the layer of fuel resting on a grate being brought to the tcpof said layer when nearly consumed oi'l reducedto ashes with the' resultthat the incombustible constituents of the ashes are fused andclinkersare produced. In a furnace made and operating as hereinbeforedescribed, the layei1 of fresh fuel is broken up while being subjectedto the preliminary coking operation on the inclined supporting surfaceand before such layer of f5 the fuel reaches the point at whichccmbustion takes place, so that after the layer reaches the chain grate,no further disturbanceor agitation of the layer is required in order topermit the free passage of air therethrough. Moreover, there isnc'brciuiing up or rolling over of the coal while resting u on theinclined surface, such as would ten to the production of clinliers, itbeing manifest that if the layer on the inclined surface be nuitystirred up7 but only broken freiem 5, the surface portion thereof, whichis first coked fai combustion, will remain at the top of the li; i e:lan the chain grate` While the lower part of said layer, which is lessnearly rrepared for combustion, will first receive t e action of the airon reaching the grate The coking action will have extended through theentire thickness of the layer on the inclined supporting surface by the.i time the said layer reaches the bottom of the same and reaches thechain grate, and such layer `will then be thoroughly prepared fffcombustion without the formation of clinkers, because its lower portionwhich has been least subjected te the coking operation will be morelireetiy acted u cn by the incoming air to effect combustion t ereof,while the upper lpart of the laj-g'jer, having been more thorly celied,will be in readiness for burnyh the relatively smaller supply of a ii flm Another important advantfig the can-struction described th crease ofigniting effect arisin i ter preparation of the fuel for ignition andcomplete combustion. This is due to the the heated gaseous products ofcombustion from the entire layer of fuel. cn the zfnionaal grate surfaceare deflected forwardly against the layer of coal irsling upon theinclined sup orting surface, thereby giving increased co ring eec:nwwn'i'liiig ik (he incre-:isc of fuel fed into the furnace` ln prior@instructions in which an igniting arrh is located ogrer the forwardcnil of a traveling chain grs c inew e has been no increase of cokingeffect upon an increase of the amount oi fuel fed to the furnace,because the ignition 15 arch is heated only by the heat radiated fromthe forward par: t ef the layer Hf burning fuel en the lgrate and thereis therefore no more heat transmitted from the ignition arch to thegreater amount of incoming fresh fuel when the feed is rapid than to thelesser amount of incoming fresh coal when the fced .is slow. Manifestly,in the operation of a furnace made as described, the increase in therate of feed will result in a'larger quan- 85 tity of fuel being burnedupon the chain grate and the heat resulting from the conibustion of suchlarger quantity of fuel will produce an increased heating eect upon theincoming fuel substantially corresponding to the increase in the rate offeed.

Another advantage gained by the construction of the furnace embodyingour invention may be understood from the followfuel resting upon thegrate is in rch thinner at the wir esci of said grate than at the frontend thereof, so that ther* is liess .fwsis ance to the ngi# of air',hrough the layer at the rear than at the fr-int end of the grate. As accnsequence then ill usually bc an ox cess of air supply to the iu i atthe rear porticn, and a deficiency of such air supply at the frontportion, of the gr te Whin an ignition arch is employer-,ii at theforward i-i'id of the chain grate and the gn .icons products ofcombustion rise from the .fuel ou the grate between the rear margin ofsaid ignition arch and the bridge wall of the furnace, the oints ofdeficiency and excess in air supp y are widely separated, and the gasescentainiiig excess oxygen entering ihe space above the g; Le at the rearportion thereof,`may not become mixed with that containing a deficiencyof oxygen rising from the forward 115 part of he grate to such extent astoy produce complete combustion before the heated roducts of combustionroach the region of owei temperature which is ali-rai i found adjacentto the boiler tubes cr other surfaces 120 of Mereever, :is thi`A ci; lasof air 'i' fe increases,

A Jfarily desich excess o y and detemperature may prevail to such i115as to prevent any combustion even if mixture with the ases from theforward part ofhthe furnace ta es place. In the furnace made ashereinbefore set forth, air passinu through the thinner portion of thelayer o 130 ,y products of combustion-'reach the region of fuel at therear end of the grate and containing an excess ofv oxygen is deflectedfore wardly by and highly heated in its passage beneath, the horizontalpartition or deflecting arch, and, at the forward end of the furowertemperature at the upper part of the furnace.

n set forth, moreover, the direction of movementof the heated productsof combustion,

'beings towards the front of the grate,- is against the direction offuel feed..with.the

result that the combustion of lsaid fuel is aided by the action thereonofheat from said products of combustion and does not depend l solelyupon the transmission of heat from the burning to the unburned fuelthrough the fuel itself, but the incoming fresh fuel is heated by thesaid products of combustion from the rear part of the furnace containingexcess air at a high temperature to such extent, before it reaches thechain grate, vthat combustion of said fresh-fuel takes place as rapidlyas said fresh fuel reaches the grate..

We are aware that a ,deilecting arch or partition adapted to direct theproducts of combustion in a furnace forwardly towards a layer of coalresting u on an inclined fuel support at the forwar end of the furnace,-

has heretofore been used, and that a similarly acting deflecting arch orpartition has Y been employed in connection with the chain v the layerof fuel resting thereon, and in w grate but'without any supportinvsurface on ywhich the fuel is sustained Vor he d during a preliminarycoking operation. We vbelieve to be novel, however, a constructlon 1nwhich there is combined a horizontally arranged' traveling chain. grate,.a substantially horizontal deflecting arti'tion or arch arranged todeflect the pro ucts of combustion toward the forward/end of thefurnace, and an inclined support adapted to ysustain a layer of fuelduring 'a reliminarydistilling or coking operation an which is providedwith means forV continuously agitatmg and breakingup c the layer ofcoked coal is transferred from said inclined surface to the chain 'grateand moves rearwardly thereon without disturbance or agitation, thisconstructlon and arrangement of parts producing results dis- InE theconstruction hereinbefore is corr heretofore ob- -ingfrom the rear endyof the furnace forwardly over said grate, to a point near the forwardend of the grate, and an inclined, non-aerating fuel support at theforward end of the grate adapted to sustain a layer' of fuel during apreliminary coking operation, and

for the downward movement of said layer.

thereover by the action of gravity to the forwardv end of the grate,said fuel support, embracing fuel agitating means adapted to maintainthe coal in'said layer in a fragmentary condition withoutstirring ormixing the same during the coking operation.

2. In a furnace, the combination with a traveling grate having asubstantially horizontal fuel supporting surface, a deflecting partitionextending from the rear end of the furnace forwardly over said grate,and an inclined, non-aerating fuel support at the front of the furnaceadapted to sustain thereon a layer of fuel duringa preliminary coking0peration, and forthe downward movement of said layer 'of fuel thereoverby the action of gravity, said support embracing a plurality ofvibratingplates forming agitating means by which the coal in said layer ismaintained in a fragmentary condition without stirring or mixing thesame, during the coking opera-l tion.

3. A furnace provided with a traveling grate, al deflectin partitionextending from the rear end of t e furnace forwardly over said grate andan inclined non-aerating fuel support at the forward end of saidgrate,said

support consisting of a plurality of transverse, horizontal,overlapping, inclined, pivotally supported plates formed to .providetransverse ledges or shoulders in said inclined support, and means forgiving oscillatory motion to said plates.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our invention we affix oursignatures in the pesence of two witnesses, this 17th day of ay A. D.1907.

HERMAN A. POPPENHUSEN. JOSEPH HARRINGHIQN.v Witnesses: C. CLARENCEPOOLE', T. H. ALrRnDs.

